Deep within the rugged mountains above Simi Valley and standing tall against the desert landscape of southern New Mexico lie the once-majestic rocket test stands and research facilities that helped send men to the moon for the first time in 1969. Now silent for decades, many of these abandoned structures–and countless space research, astronaut training, and manufacturing facilities that dot the American landscape–lie crumbling in ruins, failing to achieve recognition for their role in the historic Apollo missions. These sites helped refine the Saturn V rocket engines that carried Apollo 11 to ... More

Deep within the rugged mountains above Simi Valley and standing tall against the desert landscape of southern New Mexico lie the once-majestic rocket test stands and research facilities that helped send men to the moon for the first time in 1969. Now silent for decades, many of these abandoned structures–and countless space research, astronaut training, and manufacturing facilities that dot the American landscape–lie crumbling in ruins, failing to achieve recognition for their role in the historic Apollo missions. These sites helped refine the Saturn V rocket engines that carried Apollo 11 to the moon, developed the equipment that allowed humans to survive in an oxygen-free environment, and tested the re-entry shields on the command module. The contributions of these sites are no less important than Cape Canaveral and Mission Control and the preservation of them is just as important to archaeology. History remembers Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, but it has long since forgotten the vanishing sites that reflect the historic “culture of Apollo.”